刺蕊草 ci rui cao

Herbs erect. Stems 0.5-2 m tall, villous, glabrescent. Petiole to 6 cm, obsolete in uppermost leaves; leaf blade ovate, 5-8(-10) × 2.5-5 cm, adaxially strigose-villous or subglabrous, abaxially pilose along veins otherwise glabrous, base broadly cuneate to rounded or subcordate, margin double serrate, apex acuminate; lateral veins 5-paired. Spikes (3-)5-20 cm × 7-8 mm, terminal and axillary; verticillasters many flowered; peduncle 0.5-4 cm; bracteoles ovate, 1-1.5 mm, ciliate. Calyx ovoid-tubular, ca. 3 mm, glabrous or pubescent outside, sparsely pubescent on teeth but otherwise glabrous inside; teeth equal, triangular, ca. 1/3 as long as calyx tube. Corolla white or whitish, ca. 5 mm, upper lip bearded outside, lower lip glabrous. Exserted portion of filaments nearly as long as corolla. Nutlets globose. Fl. and fr. Nov-Mar.

Hills, waste areas, valleys, forests; 1300-2700 m. Yunnan [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand]

Used medicinally.